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Jake Patterson’s association with the London Knights — and the Ontario Hockey League, for that matter — appears to be over.

The veteran goaltender isn’t expected to attend the start of training camp Friday at Budweiser Gardens. His agent and the team aren’t sure if he will play again.

“When he called me the other night, he basically had already made his mind he was going to hang ‘em up,” said Uptown Sports’ Todd Reynolds, who represents the 20-year-old Patterson. “I think that’s where Jake’s at. He talked it over with his mom and called me.

“The decision was already made. It was a surprise to us. Now, that could change and maybe he reappears, but at this point, I don’t think so.”

Patterson, a popular teammate, played in the Knights annual golf tournament at FireRock this month and the potential over-ager didn’t sound too concerned by the team’s recent acquisition of 19-year-old Belleville goalie Michael Giugovaz.

But clearly, it stung. He later met with London GM Mark Hunter, then decided to go home to Sault Ste. Marie.

“We’re just waiting to see what happens and that’s all,” Hunter said. “If something happens, I’ll try to fix the problem. That’s my responsibility. I’ll try to figure something out and we’ll just react to it.

“We’ll see what Giugovaz is about, see what he can do, and actually, the Parsons kid (rookie Tyler Parsons) looks good, so we’ll go from there.”

Patterson has never been handed the No. 1 reins in the London net. As a rookie, he served as a backup to Canadian Hockey League goalie of the year Michael Houser, then spent the last two seasons as second string to Philadelphia second-rounder Anthony Stolarz.

Since OHL teams are only allowed to finish each season with three over-agers (the Knights have defenceman Dakota Mermis, forwards Matt Rupert and Brett Welychka and Patterson in the mix), he would’ve started this year surrounded by a cloud of doubt too.

“The timing with Giugovaz being acquired, maybe he said to himself, ‘Here we go again’, ” Reynolds said. “(The Knights) went out and got insurance and the insurance caused Jake to say, ‘No thanks’. So much of it depends on the opportunity you get. Jake sees it and maybe he says, ‘I’m tired of this. I’m going to get on with my life’, which isn’t a bad decision.

“Frankly, some guys wait far too long for that.”

Reynolds has represented players who signed pro contracts, then decide a year or two later the game wasn’t for them anymore. Patterson, a highly regarded prospect just a few years ago, has never been drafted by an NHL club.

“I talked to (goalie coach) Bill Dark about it, Jake’s a super kid and we’ve never had an ounce of problems with him and he appreciated his time in London and they treated him well,” Reynolds said. “But when it comes down to it, he thinks, ‘At my age, do I want to be the second guy again?’ Whether it’s reality or not, that’s his perception.”

Patterson has played for three straight Memorial Cup teams, won the final three games of the 2013 OHL final, and played in 18 straight games when Stolarz suffered his 55-stitch leg cut last season.

Mark Hunter said he isn’t exploring trading Patterson and his camp hasn’t asked for one. On Sunday, the goalie posted a picture on his Twitter account of himself doing a headstand with the caption, “Way too bored”.

“You need good goaltending,” Mark Hunter said. “We had a tough year last year, in all fairness to coaches, our goaltending was too inconsistent to win a championship. You didn’t know what you were going to get every game. But every time I say that, we won 49 games last year and I’d take that in a heartbeat, but we had to score a lot of goals to win a lot of hockey games last year — too many goals.”

London’s 316 goals were second in the OHL to the league champion Guelph Storm. This year, the Knights stand to graduate significant firepower while returning just one defenceman (Mermis) with more than a year of OHL experience.

They need an MVP-calibre goalie this season. The cost to acquire a standout, at the moment, is two second-round picks and a third-rounder — the Knights don’t see themselves in a position to pay that price.

“I’m not just blaming Patterson on this, but we have to play better defensively,” Mark Hunter said. “Better D to me is no turnovers . . . When we were in our own zone without the puck, we were fine but we tried to do too much. Our forwards are trying to be too cute in the neutral zone and when you turn it over, guess what happens?”

It ends up in the back of your net — the one Patterson no longer protects in London.

Around the rink

The Knights grabbed former Kitchener forward Jimmy Soper off waivers this week. The 19-year-old from Waterloo had a goal and three points with a minus-16 rating in 50 games last year. “We’re very young and we wanted an older kid,” Mark Hunter said. “We’ll go from there and see what happens” . . . The team also has interest in Owen Sound first-rounder Victor Mete, the promising defender who has opted not to attend Attack training camp. “Nothing materializing on (a potential trade),” Hunter said.